Dr. Laura Warner

October 27, 2016

Introduction to Social Marketing for Behavior Change

• To address complex issues, we need to change behavior

• Information-heavy campaigns targeting general public make little difference

• Knowing something doesn’t always lead to action

Changing Public Behaviors

Intensive information intended to reach everyone

Not particularly effective:

• Many factors that influence behavior

• Education has a minimal effect

Typical Approaches

Why? Humans don’t behave rationally. Knowing what is “right” does not frequently lead to action

The application of commercial marketing techniques +

To influence a key target audience +

To voluntarily change a behavior =

For the good of society, the audience, and the environment • Uses the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion

• Market research is key: We “make an offer”, not of an objective reality, but what the customer perceives – perception IS reality

Social marketing to Change Behaviors

1. They aren’t aware of the need/behavior

2. They know about it but perceive too many challenges (barriers)

3. They know about it and don’t perceive too many challenges but do perceive substantial benefits to what they are currently doing

Why won’t the audience change?

• People consistently influenced by perceptions of barriers and benefits

• Perceptions of barriers and benefits differ drastically from person to person

• Behaviors are completing with one another: • people make choices about behavior, not about

knowledge: choices or “exchange” one behavior for another

• to adopt something new often need to alter or stop some other behavior

• When we ask people to change, they must alter or reject another behavior (or behaviors)

Barriers and Benefits

People tend to do what has the most benefits and least barriers

• Barriers may be political, financial, physical, emotional, misinformation, time, social (norms), policies, habits

• Barriers are significant to the audience

• Barriers can be tangible/intangible, conscious/subconscious, real/perceived

• We can’t overcome them if we don’t understand them – strategies are based on audience

Barriers (or costs) and Benefits

• Process of dividing a population into smaller, meaningful subgroups (Andreasen, 2006; EPA, 2014)

• Acknowledges diversity between target audiences

• Target groups whose members are similar to one another and different from other groups in meaningful ways related to the behavior • Single approach for the most

important group • Different approaches for different

groups

Social marketing uses audience segmentation

• From the very initial stages of the program planning process;

• when voluntary behavior change of a large number is your goal;

• when you want to design a program relevant to the target audience;

• when you do not need to make an immediate change; and

• when you can define a specific problem and define your audience and goals.

Social marketing should be used:

Social Marketing and Social Media

The social marketing process

Choose behaviors to encourage among your audience

Analyze the target audience: Conduct needs assessment and identify barriers to change

Develop strategies to encourage adoption and help the audience to overcome barriers to change

Pilot the strategy with a small subgroup

Broadly implement the program and evaluate its efficacy

1. Select Behaviors

Select behaviors that will solve a problem

Select behaviors that have:

• High potential impact

• High likelihood of being adopted

• Low current engagement

• Behaviors need to be specific and measurable.

• Behaviors should be indivisible and end-state.

• Behaviors should be impactful, feasible, and acceptable to the target audience.

2. Identify barriers and benefits through data collection and analysis.

Review existing data

• Published materials & reports

• Observation of competing & desired behavior

• Focus groups & interviews to gauge feelings, attitudes, behaviors

• Survey research

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3. Develop strategies

Behavior Barriers Benefits

Target

Competing

• Use the barriers and benefits to design interventions based also on audience needs and characteristics.

• Tools are selected based on research

• Obtain feedback from audience members before moving forward

• Test the strategy

3. Develop Strategies

• Removal of barriers

• Social norms

• Prompts

• Asking for commitment

• Incentives

• Messages

• Goal setting

• Feedback

Tools: Removing barriers

Removal of barriers can be a major

key to changing behaviors

• A tangible or non-tangible reward in exchange for the behavior

• Useful to encourage a trial period of some behavior, when you can offer indefinitely, and benefit justifies the incentive

• Useful when motivation to act is low & people would not act otherwise

Most effective when: • Visible / large enough to get

attention • Used to increase motivation • Used to reward the behavior, not

to punish negative

Tools: Incentives

• Visual or auditory slogans, stickers, symbols, signs

• Useful when used to cue behaviors people favor and likely to do, but simply forget (like taking reusable bags into store)

• Useful in encouraging one-time or ongoing sustainable behaviors

Most effective when: • Easy to understand • Noticeable • Placed close to the location/time

where the behavior should occur • Used to encourage positive

behavior (not discourage negative)

Tools: Prompts

• How people think their peers view certain behaviors

• Behavior is strongly affected by what we think is normal and acceptable

• May highlight actual, sometimes invisible behaviors to emphasize underperceived social norms and correct false perceptions about community behaviors

• Social norms approach would publicize neighbors doing desirable behavior

• As neighbors become more aware that peers are engaging in the behavior and that they approve, will be more likely to do the same

Tools: Social Norms

• Asking people to do something

• Changes the way people see themselves

• Works because we like to be reliable

• Most effective when

• Group versus individual

• Public versus private

• Written versus verbal

Tools: Commitment

Commitment + Social Norms Camden, ME

• Citizens for a Green Camden uses norms and commitment/pledges to encourage town residents to have chemical-free lawns – uses

• Their lawn can be colored green on a map that sits in the window of the town office and is on their website, www.citizensforagreencamden.org

• Test the program with a small segment of target audience, and use findings to make changes

• Separate from barrier & benefits research

• Use random assignment & control group for comparison

• Measure perceptions & attitudes, ultimately focus on behavior change

• Use this information to refine strategy before proceeding

4. Pilot the Program

5. Fully implement and evaluate

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• Implementation should incorporate all elements used in pilot

• Conduct formative and summative evaluation

• Be sure to share your outcomes – both positive and negative

thank you!

Laura Warner – lsanagorski@ufl.edu Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist

UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication

Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology